Congenital muscular torticollis: Epidemiological, diagnostic, therapeutic and evolutionary aspects: about 6 cases at the hospital centre of the order of Malta of Dakar

Introduction: Congenital torticollis is a malalignment of the head and neck relative to the shoulder plane present at or shortly after birth; the head is tilted to the side of the torticollis and rotated to the contralateral side. The most common cause is congenital muscular torticollis (CMT), which is a structural abnormality of the sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle. The management of congenital torticollis often relies on monitoring and physiotherapy. Surgical treatment is necessary when other means fail. The aim of our work was to compare our clinical data and our therapeutic and evolutionary modalities with those of the literature by describing the cases of CMT treated within the orthopedics department of the Order of Malta Hospital Center in Dakar. Patients and Methods: It is a descriptive retrospective study over a period of 13 years. We included all confirmed cases of CMT who received surgical treatment during the study period at the Order of Malta Hospital Center in Dakar. The Cheng and Tang classification allowed us to evaluate the results of surgery Results: In total, we collected 06 cases of CMT. The average age of the patients was 8 years, with a range of 2 to 16 years. All patients underwent open tenotomy: for three it was unipolar and for three bipolar. The results were excellent to good in all patients; there were no cases of recurrence. Conclusion: Our results largely agree with those in the literature and allow us to conclude that surgery is of great interest in the management of congenital muscular torticollis diagnosed late and improves the functional prognosis and quality of life of patients.